Testing With Feedback Yields Potent, but Piecewise, Learning of History and Biology Facts

Does correctly answering a test question about a multiterm fact enhance memory for the entire fact? We explored that issue in 4 experiments. Subjects first studied Advanced Placement History or Biology facts. Half of those facts were then restudied, whereas the remainder were tested using 5 W (i.e., who, what, when, where, or why) or analogous questions. Each question assessed a specific critical term of the fact. In the first 3 experiments, 1 test question was posed per tested fact; in the fourth experiment, up to 3 different test questions were posed per tested fact. After a delay of at least 24 hr, a final test involved questions that assessed the same terms that were tested during training, as well as questions that assessed a different term from that previously tested. Results showed that testing produced piecewise fact learning: Tested terms benefited relative to restudy, but untested terms did not. That pattern held when either fill-in-the-blank or multiple-choice questions were used during training, when 1 or 2 test trials were used during training, for both history and biology facts, and when more than 1 term from each fact was tested during training. Thus, across a range of circumstances, taking tests on complex facts results in a selective memory benefit for tested terms. In analogous applied settings, testing on multiple response terms should promote more comprehensive retention.